Iggy Pop Tells Stooges Story in New Book

A new book about one of rock music's most influential bands will get a firsthand account of the action from the guy at the center of it all. Total Choas: The Story of the Stooges / As Told by Iggy Pop will chart the history of the proto-punk group that stormed out of the '60s and gloriously crashed and burned over the next few years.

Writers Jeff Gold and Johan Kugelberg spent two days with Pop at his Miami home, asking questions and collecting tales about everything from music to drugs to a personal account of the rise and fall of one of rock's most storied, and combustible, bands.

The Stooges came out of Detroit in 1969 with their self-titled debut album, which included the future classic "I Wanna Be Your Dog." The next year, they released the free-form, noise-rock classic Fun House. By the following year, they had broken up.

But in 1973, David Bowie convinced Pop to give the Stooges another shot with a restructured lineup on Raw Power, another milestone of pre-punk fury. The band almost immediately fell apart again, and Pop embarked on a wild, occasionally spotty solo career.

Over the years, the Stooges' influence grew, especially with punk bands coming out of England, even though their records barely sold. In 2007, the surviving members of the band got together for The Weirdness, their first record in 34 years, and a tour. They followed it up in 2013 with Ready to Die and more shows.

Music writers and historians have been trying to make sense of the Stooges' story for years. Pop's recollections in Total Chaos promise to get to the heart of it. Joan Jett, Johnny Marr and Jack White (whose Third Man Books will publish the bio) offer perspective. The book will be released sometime this winter.

Pop is currently on the road supporting his 17th solo album, Post Pop Depression, which was released last month.